Spring Boot is an open-source Java-based framework designed for quickly setting up production-ready applications by automating configuration, thus allowing developers to focus more on logic than setup. It features an embedded server, reducing the need for pre-setup containers and avoiding excessive boilerplate code, while also enabling different environment profiles and simplified dependency management. To get started, prerequisites include Maven or Gradle, Java (recommended version 1.8 or greater), and a basic understanding of HTTP methods and Spring MVC.